My thoughts on some newsworthy events of the week: The MPAA has rated “Fun Size” PG-13 for crude and suggestive material, partying and language. This is only Nickelodeon’s second movie to be rated PG-13 (the first was “Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging”, which was only released on DVD here in the US). That makes “Fun […]
The “Peanuts” gang is returning to the Big Screen! Not even Charlie Brown himself could say “Good Grief” to that news. The announcement on Tuesday of a new, full-length feature set for a Nov. 25, 2015 release has spread excitement throughout the animation world. 2015 will mark the 65th anniversary of Charles Schultz’ iconic characters […]
UPDATE: “Hotel Transylvania” drops to 2nd place (behind “Taken 2”) at the weekend box office, with $26.3M (I was only off by $300k). “Frankenweenie” opened to a lesser than expected $11.5M. “Corpse Bride”‘s wide-release opening weekend gross in 2005 was just over $19 million, so “Frankenweenie”‘s gross is quite lower, especially considering that “Corpse” wasn’t […]
Fran Drescher is best known for playing TV’s “The Nanny”. Currently, she’s starring on the TV Land sitcom “Happily Divorced”, and lends her iconic voice to Frankenstein’s wife Eunice in the animated “Hotel Transylvania”. Fran talks about working on “Transylvania” and reflects on 20 years since “The Nanny”: LCJ: You have one of the most […]
We’re starting to see pre- pre- pre-Oscar nomination predictions. Of course this early it’s all about guessing, especially since most of the films/performances haven’t been seen by anyone, even the critics. But that doesn’t mean, with a little research, logic and following the buzz, you can’t come-up with a solid list of possible contenders in […]
That’s NOT all, folks! The Looney Tunes will be making a comeback on the big screen. CinemaBlend.com is reporting that as project involving all the favorite Looney Tunes characters is in the works. Former SNL comedian Jenny Slate will write the script and the producers include David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford (“Harry Potter”). This’ll be […]
“Indiana Jones” is back on the big screen. No, Harrison Ford is not starring in a fifth “Indy” movie called “Indiana Jones and We’re Not Really Sure if This IS His Last Crusade”. Instead, Paramount and director Steven Spielberg have decided to re-release the original “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for one week only, exclusively […]
It’s been a very busy summer at the movies. I’ve seen nearly 40 films and reviewed most of them on TV, in the newspaper and/or on this site. But some movies simply fell through the cracks – and I wasn’t able to give them my full attention at the time I screened them. Here are […]
“Space Jam” was the 1996 basketball comedy starring sports legend Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes. It was a groundbreaking achievement for its time by combining live-action and animation. Now, of course, that’s combo common is pretty common, especially with family films (“The Smurfs” and the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” series two recent examples). So […]
20th Century Fox has finalized a deal to distribute all DreamWorks Animation movies beginning next year. DWA is ending its distribution deal with Paramount (which had been going since 2006) at the end of the year with “Rise of the Guardians”. DreamWorks’s upcoming movies include “The Croods” (opening in March – the first to now […]